Product Description

Everything you need to know about Harry Potter!

From plot summaries to refresh your memory (Do you remember which book introduces the character of Luna Lovegood?) to a delightful glossary of characters, places, spells and special objects (Do you know what the spell aparecium does?), this book, authored by Colin Duriez, is designed to be an excellent companion to the Harry Potter books.

With loads of quotes from interviews, you'll learn all about J. K. Rowling's life and her literary influences. Chapters on the spirituality of Potter explore the question of how Rowling's faith is reflected in the stories, what she believes about witchcraft and how the stories fit with Christian tradition.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #185331 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 300 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Whether or not the Potter frenzy exhausted itself during the months leading up to book seven will certainly determine the fate of Duriez's Field Guide among fans. One thing Potter devotees can bank on, however, is that Duriez (A Field Guide to Narnia) knows his material inside out and has amassed an encyclopedic knowledge of the great classics of children's literature and the Western intellectual cannon—which he employs judiciously to situate everything from the wizarding world in the romantic tradition to the relationship between Hogwarts and the classic school story. While this work is admirable, the guide, unfortunately, reads like a textbook or a kind of Harry Potter diagnostic manual. As a rule, Duriez's prose falls flat (though it occasionally dips into the realm of playful color commentary), its topics lack introduction, and much of the book is taken up by a series summary and an exhaustive glossary of terms. Also disappointing is the chapter on J.K. Rowling's Spiritual Worldview, half of which is dedicated to listing and summarizing the spate of books that link Harry Potter to Christianity and spirituality, rather than offering new insights about the series and its Christian themes. But if Potter fans are looking for a basic reference manual and a few interesting talking points, Duriez's book will surely satisfy. (Dec.)
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About the Author
Colin Duriez was for many years general books editor for Inter-Varsity Press in Leicester, England. A professional writer, he currently offers acquisitions, editorial and project management services through his own business, InWriting, based in Keswick, Cumbria. He studied at the University of Istanbul, the University of Ulster (where he was a founding member of the Irish Christian Study Centre) and under Francis Schaeffer at L'Abri in Huemoz, Switzerland. He has held a variety of teaching and editorial posts spanning nearly thirty years. Duriez won the Clyde S. Kilby Award in 1994 for his research on the Inklings. He has published many articles, books and other written works, and he has spoken to a variety of literary, academic and professional groups in a number of countries. He has also appeared as a commentator on the extended-version film DVDs of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (Peter Jackson, director), PBS's The Question of God, which compared C. S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud, and the Sony DVD Ringers about Tolkien fandom and the impact of Tolkien on popular culture. His best-known books include The C. S. Lewis Encyclopedia (Crossway/SPCK), The Inklings Handbook (with the late David Porter, Chalice), J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship (Paulist Press/Sutton), Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings (Paulist Press/Sutton) and A Field Guide to Narnia (InterVarsity Press).

Customer Reviews

Forgotten who lived in Spinner's End?
Field Guide to Harry Potter

In this book you will find a very useful index of names, places etc from the Harry Potter books. There is also a nice but short biography of J.K. Rowling. Otherwise there is nothing revolutionary in it.
But for a big fan like me this is part of a HP collection.

Harry Potter
Other than the first few chapters, I found that this book is a wonderful reference to the Harry Potter book series. I did know about J.K. Rowling's life story and how she wrote her books. This went a little more in depth about that and her background.

I found the religious portions interesting as well as informative. It brought to my mind that things are not all what they seem to be. One does not know everything about the religious aspects that are brought to light in the Harry Potter books. When one reads them, the individual probably does not realize the effects of religion in those books. They are reading the books because it is Harry Potter and are not looking deeper into the stories.

"The Field Guide to Harry Potter" is just that. A 'guide' so that those who read it will get a better understanding of the underlying themes of the individual books. This makes one want to read the books over and over again, as I have done.

The Best I've Read
As a Seminary student, I love the Potter books. It's refreshing to see them cast in the proper light as great Christian works. Duriez makes a strong case for this as he explores every facet of Harry Potter including biography on the life of the author J.K. Rowling. There is no doubt that Duriez has done his homework.

In addition, one will find a timeline of the events as well as a glossary of many of the people and items. If you can have only one resource on an overall look at Harry Potter, I'd choose this one.